Sleeping Beauty (Tchaikovsky)

Sleeping Beauty (Russian: ?????? ?????????) is one of the classical repertoire's famous ballets, with the musical score composed by Tchaikovsky.

Related Topics:
Russian - Ballet - Tchaikovsky

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Tchaikovsky was approached by the Director of the Imperial Theatres in St. Petersburg, Ivan Vsevolozhsky on 25 May 1888 about a possible musical treatment of a ballet based on Charles Perrault's 'La Belle au bois Dormant' of which Tchaikovsky did not hesitate to accept the commission although he was aware that his only previous ballet, Swan Lake met with little enthusiasm at that stage of his career. The ballet scenario of which Tchaikovsky worked on was based on the Brothers Grimm version of Perrault's work entitled 'Dornröschen' which ends with the Princess' parents (the King and the Queen) having survived the 100 years sleep to celebrate the Princess' wedding to the Prince although Vsevolozhsky wisely adapted some of Perrault's works into the ballet. Regardless, Tchaikovsky was happy to inform the Director of the Imperial Theatre that he has great pleasure studying the work and came away with adequate inspiration to do it justice.

Related Topics:
St. Petersburg - Ivan Vsevolozhsky - 25 May - 1888 - Charles Perrault - Swan Lake - Brothers Grimm

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Tchaikovsky worked quickly on the new work, where he began initial sketches in the winter of 1888 at his home in Frolovskoye and began orchestration on the work on 30 May 1889 where he duly completed in September of the same year. Tchaikovsky followed the suggestions of the Imperial Theatre's ballet choreographer Marius Petipa closely as these would be important to dictate the number of dancers in a particular number, the mood of the piece or the choreography of the dances. His brother Modest Tchaikovsky, also noted that Tchaikovsky readily complied with Petipa's suggestions and wrote indefatigably than his previous ballet.

Related Topics:
Frolovskoye - 30 May - 1889 - Marius Petipa - Modest Tchaikovsky

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The ballet's focus was undeniably on the two main conflicting forces of good (the Lilac Fairy) and evil (Carabosse), where a leitmotif representing both of them runs through the entire ballet serving as an important thread to the underlying plot. Act 3 of the work, however, takes a completed break from the two motifs and instead places focus on the individual characters of the various court dances. Upon the completion of the work, during one of the general rehearsals Tsar Alexander III and his family was present and when he left, he made a simple remark 'Very nice!' which seemed to have irritated Tchaikovsky, who probably may have expected a more favorable opinion.

Related Topics:
Leitmotif - Tsar Alexander III

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The ballet's premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg on 15 January 1890 entailed more favorable accolades than Swan Lake from the press but Tchaikovsky never had the luxury of being able to witness his work become an instant success in theatres outside of Russia as he died in 1893. A production mounted at the La Scala in Milan did not arouse sufficient interest in the ballet and it was only in 1921 at London where the ballet finally gained a permanent place in the classical repertoire.

Related Topics:
Mariinsky Theatre - 15 January - 1890 - Russia - 1893 - La Scala - Milan - 1921 - London

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